Since scoring a deal with DJ Khaled's We the Best/Def Jam imprint, Deerfield Beach native Ace Hood has spent the last couple years creeping in and out of the spotlight's edge. He scored a minor urban video/radio hit with the poppy, female-friendly "Ride or Die" -- but that was largely thanks to Trey Songz' syrupy sung hook. Hood's other attempts to go hard have scored local support but have largely met with indifference or Internet mockery beyond the tricounty area.

Still, a couple recent releases may show that Ace is trying to regain some attention and switch up his style a bit. Last week, there was "Highs and Lows," his collaboration with smart local collective Mayday!, which added some brains and musicality to the usual Ace Hood operation. (Click here to download it.)

Now there's an official remix of his old single "Hustle Hard," injected with some megastar power through verses by Lil Wayne and Rick Ross. Lex Luger's cold synths and snare rattles still remain the best feature of the track, but Hood makes a valiant effort at sounding hungrier and fiercer. (He could still use some work on his lyrical creativity though: "I'm on South Beach with that top off / Bad bitch and her ass off soft.")

By contrast, the guest stars here sound less energetic than usual. Ross seems to be simply talking, as opposed to the amped-up yelling on his guest verses for 'Ye, although he does manage to fit in the requisite shout-outs to Rolexes and King of Diamonds.

Wayne, meanwhile, also sounds less high-pitched than usual, and devotes most of his verse to stuff about more bad bitches rather than the smart, grammar-bending wordplay he usually delivers. Well, you can only do so much with the material you're given to start with, right?